A Timely Kind of Love
by Wpnfire
Summary: As an ODST, Mason Forge has been there, done that. He's fought the Covenant for years, defying death at every turn. When the war ends though Mason finds himself without work, and he decides to take some time for himself at a resort. At the resort, Mason meets someone that he finds he cannot live without. OC.
1. Chapter 1

Mason stepped off the shuttle and took a deep breath of the air on Judges II.

_God, this place is amazing. _He thought.

The temperature was a marvelous 23 degrees Celsius, and Mason watched the clouds move through the sky. The air was rich and filling, and Mason stood for a few seconds just to take it all in.

Virtually identical to earth, Judges II is the premier resort in the galaxy (obviously, this is for _humans_). This vacation spot is located on the eastern coast of one of the planet's two continental landmasses, and is built as a seaside resort.

Mason was an ODST who specialized in fighting the Covenant. He had survived numerous campaigns and hundreds of individual missions in special forces, but when the Covenant war ended, Mason's unit was furloughed until he could be reassigned, which could take months.

Standing orders were to "enjoy the r & r while you have the time," so he booked a reservation on Judges II when he learned his unit had been suspended indefinitely. The planet was scarcely populated during the war, but people would most likely flock to it again with the Covenant war having reached its conclusion.

Mason walked out of the landing pad, and made his way through the buildings and various walkways till he reached the rotunda. The rotunda was a large building made of solid marble, with a high dome made of glass.

The structure itself was extremely ornate with exquisite design features. Even Mason, who is normally bored to death with art in general, had to stand and marvel at the architecture.

Six paths radiated out from the center, and led to all the attractions, resorts, restaurants, beaches, and retail shopping on Judges II. There was more than enough one could ever possibly ask or even dream to do on a vacation, all available to guests. Mason doubted that he would be able to see all there is on the planet.

He could not imagine the amount of time it took to build this place.

_Of course, the same could be said for Reach..._Mason stopped walking and stared at the ground for a few seconds before he banished the thought of the war from his mind. This was part of the reason he came here, he hoped he would be distracted from the horrors of war that were permanently ingrained into his memory. He took the path to his right which led to the hotel he would stay at.

While he was walking, Mason thought about what he would do first. '_Sleep like a log_,' immediately came to his mind. Mason was so deep in thought, he failed to see a woman moving in his direction, and bumped into her. The woman dropped the small computer tablet she was carrying, but it luckily bounced off Mason's boot before it hit the (hard) marble floor.

Mason apologized profusely, "I am so sorry miss. I wasn't paying any atten–"

Mason stopped short of finishing his sentence as he noticed the woman's stunning appearance. She had blue eyes and short, flowing blonde hair that stopped at her shoulders. For a woman, she was very tall, only slightly shorter than Mason who stood at 6'2", and she had broad shoulders that also resembled Mason's. Women with this kind of build were almost always SPARTANS. He found her extraordinarily beautiful.

Her clothes were the standard military uniform which Mason also wore, which naturally led Mason to the conclusion she is a soldier in the UNSC (and if so, her hair was close to violating acceptable standards for women's hair length in the UNSC), and must be here for the same reason Mason was.

"Oh no that was my fault." The woman began. "I was so irritated that I wasn't watching where I was going and now I dropped my–" The woman bent over to retrieve the tablet.

Mason broke free of gazing at the woman's face, and rapidly kneeled down to retrieve the device for the woman. He inspected it to make sure it was still functional as he stood up and handed it to the woman.

"Well, it appears to be intact, it bounced on my shoe before it hit the...hard...marble...floor..." The woman looked directly at Mason, and he lost himself gazing at her face.

"Thank you." The woman said to Mason as she took the tablet from Mason and inspected it further. After several seconds, she asked, "I don't suppose you can help me figure out where my hotel is, can you?"

Mason stopped staring at the woman and responded, "Uh, sure, let me just see your reservation..."

Mason peered at the tablet and found the name of the hotel on the reservation. He had seen the names of the hotels when he was in the rotunda. "Yeah you just go and take the rightmost path." He replied as he pointed towards the path he just took to get here.

The woman turned back to Mason and smiled as she said, "Thanks." Her smile was halo-white (halo. Get it?).

She turned and walked down the path to the rotunda, leaving Mason to stand alone with his thoughts.

"Lindsay." He said to himself.

There were only _two_ hotels on Judges II, so he did not need to see her reservation on the tablet to figure out "which other one" it was. The only reason he asked was so he could see her _name and room number_ on the reservation, and now he had it.

"Lindsay." He mused again.

Mason turned around and walked down the path towards the hotel entrance. He decided he would not rest until he met _Lindsay_ again. Suddenly, the fatigue of ten years of war hit Mason like a ton of bricks, and he decided that he needed to eat something and get some sleep first.

Mason dropped off his bags in his room, changed out of his military uniform to put on civilian clothes consisting of jeans and a green polo shirt, and then journeyed out to find a restaurant. He took the path on the rotunda that led to the restaurants, and decided on a fine restaurant that served barbecue as well as booze.

By the time Mason made it to the restaurant it was past midnight, and there were few people in the restaurant. He sat down at the bar, and mulled over the menu. It did not take long before he became distracted as his thoughts drifted to Lindsay.

A woman's voice broke through Mason's subconscious, and his eyes went wide. He sat up and turned to see Lindsay walk to a booth and sit near the window. She had his back to him and did not appear to know he was there. Mason looked around, and did not see anyone else, so she must be alone.

Mason turned back to looking at the bar and quickly tried to think of a way to start a conversation with her. '_Hey Lindsay, ever since I ran into you, and creepily learned your name, I've found it impossible to stop thinking about you. Would you like to have dinner together?' Yeah, because that totally does not sound like something a stalker would say._

He gave up on trying to think of something to say, and decided to just go up and talk to her. Slowly and cautiously Mason walked over to Lindsay. Although he had been in relationships before, although none of them ended up working out, he felt like he was a teenager again, nervously and timidly asking a girl out on a date for the first time.

When he decided he was close enough to Lindsay, he sighed, took a deep breath, and was about to say something when Lindsay, still looking out the window suddenly said, "Specialist Mason Forge, ODST. Am I right so far?"

She then turned to face Mason, who stood a bit shocked and confused all at the same time. "How do you know that?" He asked.

"I saw it on a pin on your uniform earlier when we bumped into each other."

"Well, you've got sharp eyes, too bad you couldn't use them to avoid running into me."

She laughed slightly, and Mason immediately felt more comfortable.

"So I guess since you took the time to read my minuscule pin," Mason continued, "I assume it's okay for me to tell you that I also learned your name, Lindsay."

"Yes, I'll admit what you did was very clever, I almost didn't notice your trick till I realized there were only two hotels on this resort."

"So you noticed? Well, you had me fooled, I thought you were hopelessly lost."

"I may have played dumb yes, but I had to make sure you were more than just a pretty face."

Mason gulped. She thought he was pretty? Well, she thought his _face_ was pretty, but still.

"You're a SPARTAN, aren't you?" Mason asked with an inquisitive tone.

Lindsay turned to look at Mason with an almost shocked look on her face that slowly turned into a smile.

"You're definitely more than just a pretty face, how do you know that I'm a SPARTAN?"

"Well, for starters, you're abnormally tall, you look to be about 200 pounds, you have extremely broad shoulders, and you're able to read a pin on my shirt that a normal person has to carefully look at for several seconds to be able to read. In addition, you just heard me approach you even though I was walking carefully and slowly on a carpeted floor. You can't have freakish abilities like that and _not_ be a SPARTAN."

"Well, Mason I was quite wrong about you, you're not just a pretty face, you're much more than that. Would you care to have dinner with me Mr. Forge?"

"I would like to, yes."

She gestured towards the seat opposite the booth she sat at, and he walked over and sat down. They both ordered their food and drinks. Mason ordered his favorite draft beer and Lindsay ordered a glass of water, something that Mason found strange.

"_Water_? You SPARTANS don't know how to have fun do you?"

"It comes with the territory. When you're kidnapped at a young age and learn to survive without fun, it's not so easy to learn how to do it when you're actually an adult. But tell me Mason, what do you like doing for fun?"

Mason immediately thought of _several_, highly inappropriate things that would fun right now, but he said none of them.

"I like to kill Covenant. It really gets my blood flowing. Especially when you get all the different colors of blood from different Covenant all swirling together. Of course, I'm sure _you_ know what I'm–

A waitress cleaning another table next to the one Mason and Lindsay were at, stopped cleaning and starred at Mason with a somewhat frightened look. Mason saw her looking at him, and quickly stopped to explain himself to her.

"I–I'm referring to Covenant blood...alien blood, not–not human blood, heh..." Mason explained to the waitress, as she quickly turned and walked away. Lindsay stifled a giggle. "Hey! It was just a joke! I wasn't serious!"

"Christ..." Mason put his head in his hands momentarily. "The first day I'm back around normal people, this happens!"

Lindsay laughed again. "Well, I guess she just doesn't appreciate your sense of humor like I do."

"Yeah I guess she do–" Suddenly, Mason realized Lindsay had complimented him again: she found his jokes funny.

"What about you Lindsay, what do you do for fun?" Mason asked.

"I'm not sure, I've never had free time before..."

"What? Really? You've never once had any time to yourself?"

"No, not once in my entire life. I guess before they took me..."

Mason held up his hand, "All right, I get it. I'll tell you what Lindsay, if you feel comfortable letting me, I would like to introduce you to an activity that ordinary humans do almost every day–_especially_ when they have dinner with someone. Do you know what it is?"

Lindsay shook her head, and Mason continued.

"It's an ancient ritual, usually done at night among very close individuals. Although the actual act itself is very short, the amount of time people spend doing it makes it sometimes last for hours."

Lindsay rapidly grew concerned and uncomfortable, "Mason what are you..."

"I'm referring of course to the communal act of drinking."

"Mason, we just met each other. I don't think that–wait, what?" Lindsay asked, confused about what Mason was referring to.

Mason called the waiter over.

"How may I help you?" The waiter asked Mason.

"This lady here," Mason pointed to Lindsay, "would like to have the same thing I'm having."

"What are you doing?" Lindsay asked Mason. "Are you trying to trick me into drinking a strong alcoholic beverage or something?"

Mason rolled his eyes. The waiter brought the drink to Lindsay.

"Waiter, please explain to my friend here what this drink is."

The waiter turned to Lindsay, "It's a name brand imported directly from earth. Alcohol by volume is 4.75%."

"Thank you." Mason said to the waiter. "There, you see? Perfectly fine to drink." Mason said to Lindsay.

She took a sip, and immediately recoiled in disgust.

"What the hell!? This tastes like shit!" She said accusingly.

"It's a bit of an acquired taste I'll admit. Just give it some time."

The waiter brought them their food, and the two of them began eating their meals. After a minute of them eating, Lindsay took a large sip of her beer, and nearly looked like she was about to throw up.

"God...I forgot what I was drinking."

Mason laughed and Lindsay looked at him for a moment and asked, "So Mason, where are you from?"

Mason's expression rapidly changed to a serious look, and Lindsay noticed it immediately, "If you don't mind me asking."

He quickly apologized, "No, no, it's fine." He took a deep breath before he continued, "I was born on an outer planet that was very similar to Harvest, being an agricultural world, only slightly more developed and with more people.

My parents both worked as...well the technical name would be growers. Most of the jobs on my planet had something to do with agricultural work, and my parents were no different."

He paused to eat more of his food and drink some of his beer. Lindsay then asked him, "Any siblings?"

"Yep, four of them, all younger than me. Two sisters and two brothers."

Mason and Lindsay both ate more of their food before Lindsay looked up at him and asked the next obvious question. "Was it attacked by the Covenant?"

Mason had spent the entire conversation bracing himself for this question, and he was prepared to answer.

"We were only a few days travel from Harvest at FTL speed, and we heard about the attack rather quickly. Like most people my parents were concerned about the attack on Harvest, but my parents were much more concerned than other families. Now keep in mind this is before we knew it was aliens attacking us, let alone a highly advanced, dangerous, massive, and morally driven alien conglomerate called the Covenant.

My parents encouraged people to leave the planet but none of them listened: either they did listen and dismissed it as just an insurrectionist attack, or they just didn't listen at all. What my parents did next I can only attribute as God's Will that me and my family made it off that planet, because they somehow knew it was dangerous to stay and they decided to leave."

Mason ate more of his food. "How did you get out?" Lindsay asked.

"They took out all of the money they had saved, took me and all of my brothers and sisters and they arranged for a friend of theirs, who had a large ship, to take us and all of our belongings to earth. It cost my parents everything they had, all of it."

"And they're alive now on earth?"

"Yes. They're all alive living on earth."

"And are they working now? How are they getting money for food?"

"All of my pay goes directly to my parents, who are too old to work themselves. Of course, now my siblings are older, and they all work now too, but I still pay the bulk of it. Together we make it work and now it's to the point that we're making enough to have some for ourselves."

"Wow Mason, I can't believe you and your family got out in time. Not a lot of people can say the same."

"Yeah...I know."

The two ate in silence for a few seconds before Mason asked Lindsay her story.

"So, I don't suppose you know where you grew up Lindsay?" He asked.

Lindsay shook her head, "I don't remember."

"Not even a little? What about your parents? Surely you remember them, right?"

Lindsay thought deeply for a while and answered, "No, I can't remember."

Mason sighed contemplatively. "Have you at least ever wanted to know about where you grew or who your parents were?"

"Actually yes I have, and I've tried to find out. Unfortunately, the records were stored on Reach..."

Mason shook his head in disbelief, "Oh my gosh...so you have no idea who your parents were, or where you're from?"

"No, no I don't..." Lindsay admitted, slightly disheartened.

Mason sat looking at Lindsay for a long time. His gaze slowly lowered to looking at his food.

"You're lucky..."

Lindsay looked up at him, confused.

"I–I sometimes wish I could forget all of those people who died on my planet when the Covenant bombarded it. I wish I could forget that..." He admitted.

Mason felt Lindsay reach out and place her hand on his arm. He looked up at her for a few seconds, and then looked back down, nodding in appreciation. "Thanks." He said.

"Don't mention it." Lindsay replied.

Eventually, the two returned to eating their dinner before the conversation quickly changed to a more light hearted discussion about various funny things that happened to them or others during their time serving the UNSC. Eventually, Lindsay finished eating her dinner, and got up to excuse herself.

"What, you're leaving? So soon? But you haven't finished your beer..." Mason protested.

"You want me to finish that disgusting drink you ordered for me? No thanks." Lindsay said sarcastically to Mason.

Mason smiled and stood up to shake Lindsay's hand. After they shook, Lindsay stepped closer to Mason and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"I enjoyed meeting you, Mr. Forge." She said as she stepped back from Mason.

"And I you." Mason said back.

Lindsay turned to walk away, and Mason stood next to the table watching her leave. After she exited the restaurant, Mason sat down and finished his meal. He thought of all the time he had on this resort, and although he did not know exactly how long it would be until he was reassigned, he knew that he had to get to know Lindsay better before he left, because the thought of never seeing her again made Mason feel very sad.


	2. Chapter 2

Mason awoke sitting up straight, covered in sweat, his pulse fast. The nightmares he had every night consumed him even now, even here. He thought it would be different here, but the visions were just as powerful and as memorable.

He wanted to believe he was used to the terrors that plagued him in the nights, but he'd never gotten over them, not even close. A soldier's experiences on the battlefield never leave him, and Mason had many years as an ODST, each filled with the memories of many battles.

His mind alternated which memories he would be forced to relive–as soon as he got used to one nightmare, his mind would switch to a new memory.

Bright light shown through the crack between the curtains in his room, and Mason reached over to grab his wristwatch. 11 a.m. He could not remember the last time he slept this late. His stomach could not remember the last time it ate anything either.

Mason got dressed and left his room. At the rotunda, he took the path leading to the dinning area again, and he settled on a fancy restaurant that was serving a breakfast buffet.

His mouth watered as he saw the table of food. He grabbed a plate and took a large helping of everything that was horribly bad for his body.

What did he care though? He wasn't on duty. After Mason stuffed down his plate of food, his body voiced its disapproval, and he instantly regretted it.

He wanted to go for a run, but then he remembered that his family wanted to have a video chat with him, it would be the first they'd seen of him in at least half a year. When this was done he starred at his watch again to see it was 6 p.m. and he was hungry again.

After filling his gullet with more unhealthy food, he could almost hear his gut protest at having so much stuffed into it, and he knew he _had_ to go on a run to relieve some of the guilt he had for overindulging on the buffet and now dinner.

A few minutes later, Mason was back at the rotunda, dressed in a light t-shirt, and shorts. He decided to run out on the beach, and was heading for it when he saw her.

She was dressed nearly the same way as he was, wearing a light t-shirt and shorts, and he held her small tablet in her hand, looking intently at it.

She was about to go out for a run too.

"Well—"

"Hello Mason." The female Spartan said, well aware that he stood behind her.

"You know, that's a bit creepy."

"Sorry..." Lindsay said as she turned to face Mason, "It's a habit of mine to do that."

"It's fine, you're not the first Spartan I've met that does that...So, you eat too much at the buffet too?"

"Yeah."

"You don't mind if I go running with you, do you?"

"I figured you would ask–only if you can keep up." Lindsay said back at him.

Mason waved one of his hands. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You running out on the beach?"

"It seemed like the best place."

Lindsay turned and headed for the beach, with Mason close behind her. When they finally exited the building on the beach, the view was incredible.

The bright light from this planet's nearby star was intense, and Mason held up his hand to let himself adjust to the glare.

One of the reasons this planet was such a popular tourist destination, was because the days of this planet were extremely long, close to 18 hours in daylight. Even at 7, it was plenty bright enough for a run.

The temperature was a hot 29 degrees celsius, but the wind blew at just the right speed to make the temperature feel impossibly pleasant.

Every now and then, the clouds overhead would cast a cooling shadow on the beach, dropping the temperature further.

It was unreal.

"Wow. This place is amazing." Mason said after he had adjusted to the glare after a few moments.

"Yes, it is."

Lindsay started moving down the ramp towards the beach, and he followed her.

"How far you thinking of going?" He asked her.

"Till my hands start shaking."

He gulped.

"You–you serious?" Mason asked with slight regret for deciding to run with her.

"Hey, you said don't worry about it when I asked if you could keep up."

"Yeah, but–"

She was already off running on the sand. Mason sighed and started running.

Mason stood bent over, his hands gripping his legs tight, panting like a dog. The wind really picked up ever since they left the beach and ascended into the foot hills.

_Ascended_ was a key word there.

He was hard pressed to keep up with Lindsay on the uneven, but still mostly flat ground of the beach, but when Lindasy decided to take a turn and head up into the hills about half a mile from the beach, he couldn't keep up anymore.

He finally recovered enough to look up to see her standing there.

"It's fine…you can…go on…without me…" He gasped.

"Well, I normally would, but I'm impressed you've managed to keep up with me this far. I'll wait."

She was impressed by him, _again_. Every time Mason felt like he was way out of his league, she kept dropping clues that she was interested in him. At least, it seemed that way to _him_.

He recovered enough to think of a good response.

"You should have seen me running in my glory days…I could go forever."

"Glory days? Mason I truly doubt you're old enough to refer to any part of your life as "your glory days" yet"

Mason held up his hands, innocent. "Hey I'm telling you, I was amazing."

She scoffed. "You're just messing with me."

He shook his head. "I'm serious."

She looked at him closely, "No, you are not."

"Yes, I am. I was the fastest one in my unit at finding and grabbing cover from touchdown during an orbital insertion."

Lindsay pondered this for a moment. "You serious?"

"Dead serious." Mason contained a laugh.

She pondered this seriously again, looking away for a moment and then looking back.

"Really?"

Mason couldn't help himself. He burst out laughing.

"Dammit Mason, what the hell?!" she said angrily.

He just laughed, but the laughing made him feel light headed and he quickly sat down on the ground.

"Something wrong?" she asked him.

"Yeah, mind slowing down next time?"

She shrugged. "Maybe, but I…oh crap."

"What is it?"

Lindsay said nothing, just stared behind Mason. He turned around and uttered the same phrase. "Oh crap…"

A massive thunderhead storm cloud was heading towards the beach. It had been at their backs ever since they'd been running into the hills. The trip back to the resort was at least a good ten minutes.

"We'd better get back." Mason said.

Back on the beach, the rain was pouring down so hard, it was nearly impossible to see. The two were forced to stop running long ago by the pounding rain and poor visibility, and they moved along at a snail's pace.

"So you didn't bother to check the weather forecasts before you planned this whole adventure?" Mason asked loudly over the din of the rain.

"What do you mean 'planned?' and how is this totally my fault, YOU were already thinking of running out on the beach! You didn't check either!?"

"I was about to before I ran into you! And it was you who decided to run off into the hills!" he said back.

Eventually, the two made it back inside, water dripping down onto the floor from their soaking wet clothes. The temperature outside was dropping, but it was far more cold inside the building than out there.

They would get sick if they stayed in these clothes.

"Hey since my room is closer, you can wait in the lobby while I go up and bring down some towels?"

Mason let this offer linger in the air for a second before he realized what a disastrous statement it was. He luckily corrected it before Lindsay could respond.

"I mean you can _come up to my room_ and wait while I get us some towels."

_Wow, dodged a major bullet there._

"Thank you. If it means anything, I do apologize for getting you wet."

"Yeah well I apologize for making you drink disgusting beer."

The two made their way into the elevator as it ascended.

"Just so you know, I don't forgive you for that disgusting drink."

"Well! I may just have to have you try it again sometime then."

"Ugh, no thanks."

Mason laughed. The doors opened and he led the way to his room. In his mind, he was an utter train wreck. He'd gotten so lucky up until this point, meeting Lindsay before she went on her run, the rain, getting her to come up with him to his room.

But his luck ended with trying to get her to come in his room with him. The elevator ride didn't help because he was distracted from thinking about what he was going to say. What he came up with, wasn't half bad actually, considering he literally pulled it out of his ass.

"I don't think the hotel staff would appreciate it if we got water on the floor of the hallway, so why don't you come in my room with me?"

He held the door open, waiting for her to step inside.

"Thank you." She said as she walked in.

Mason quickly stepped in after her as the door closed shut. He moved past Lindsay into the small bathroom and grabbed all the towels he could find. He walked back out, and gave two of the towels to her and two for himself.

Lindsay stood starring at the floor next to his bed. Mason held out two towels to her, but she was not facing him. Her eyes were fixed on the floor.

"Do you sleep on the floor?"

Mason starred down at the pillow on the floor next to his bed. He was used to sleeping on the ground, the floor of a ship, or crouched against a wall, and the bed in this room just felt to different to him. He slept on the floor merely out of habit.

"Yeah, I do."

"That's funny…so do I. You have nightmares too?"

Mason pondered this for a moment. Not the question, but what he knew was already about to happen.

"Yeah…"

Lindsay stared up at him for a moment and the two of them locked eyes. Her short blonde hair was matted together from the rain, but he didn't care, she was still beautiful to him because she understood the crap he went through. His lips met hers.

What started out as a simple kiss changed dramatically into a passionate one as he turned to put Lindsay's back against a wall as she put her arms around him tightly. He ended the kiss. This was too easy. She was acting way too compliant. That's when he realized the truth.

"Wait a second. You _did_ check the weather earlier, you were looking at the forecast when I came up to you in the rotunda!"

She smiled, "It appears I never should have assumed you were just a pretty face."

"So, you lured me out to that field to what…have a romantic encounter?"

"That was the plan."

"You…" he shook his head. "…hey, if you wanted to get into my pants, all you had to do was ask."

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that right now?"

"Maybe, but I think we both know the answer to that question.

Leaning his head close they kissed again.

Mason realized they did not need the towels, because they sure as hell didn't end up wearing their wet clothes for much longer. Like a minute longer.

The next morning, he didn't wake up on the floor, he woke up comfortably in his bed, and with no nightmares plaguing him during the night, not that he got much sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Mason woke up staring at the ceiling, which was extremely uninteresting to look at. He looked right and turned on the lights in his room, then shifted his gaze to the left, where Lindsay was lying next to him asleep, facing him.

She was much more appealing to look at. He stared at her for a while before he reached out and stroked her hair. Slowly, her eyelids opened to reveal two blue eyes that looked around and located his face.

"Hi." Mason said.

"Hello." She said back.

"Hello? That's it?"

Lindsay shook her head and rolled onto her back. "If you were expecting me to speak poetry to you from now on, we can end this relationship right here."

"Who says we're in a relationship? I just wanted to get into bed with you…" He said jokingly. She was not amused.

"You asshole!" She sat up and grabbed a pillow and started hitting Mason with it.

He fought off her attacks and sat up to kiss her passionately. She fell back onto the bed, but disconnected from the kiss soon after and said plainly, "Am I laughing?"

"How was I supposed to know that wasn't funny?" He asked seriously.

Lindsay looked up at him, slightly shocked.

"I'm kidding." He said bluntly as he leaned down close to her and started kissing her neck. "Would you like to do anything today? Or do you just want to screw around some more?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"Mmmmmm, well, breakfast does sound good…" she hummed as she closed her eyes.

"Oh, and where would you like to have it?"

"Hmmm, let me think…" She reached out to grab his watch from the nightstand and looked at it as he continued to peck at her neck. "Well if we're going to get breakfast, we have only a half hour left…"

"Mm, let's skip it then…" Mason responded.

"I'm sure you would like to…mmm…but…"

She redirected Mason's head to her lips and they kissed again. He started to wrap his arms around her, but she lightly pushed him away and got up.

"Where are you going?"

"The bathroom, to change. We are going to breakfast aren't we?"

Mason sighed with a touch of disappointment, "Right."

Lindsay turned to head towards the bathroom, and he quickly sits up in the bed to watch her walk naked to the washroom. She goes around the corner, and he leans forward to watch her nude figure parade into the bathroom.

He gets up and walks over to the door of the bathroom, which should slide open automatically, but doesn't, meaning she sealed the door behind her.

"Hey, how come you'll let me see you naked in bed, but you won't let me see you naked in the bathroom?"

He heard the shower start, and he gave up talking to her and got dressed.

–––––

A half hour later the two of them sat down at a table. They were late for breakfast by a few minutes, so they decided to just have lunch inside on a fancy wood patio that gave a fantastic view of the beach.

"It's amazing," Lindsay commented at the view from the enclosed patio, "yesterday it was pouring down rain, and today it's back to being bright and dry."

"Ah, yes that's the weather on this planet, it's really something else..." A waitress said as she came up to stand next to the two of them.

The waitress took orders for their drinks and left. Lindsay sat across from Mason at a small table, and behind her to the left a jazz pianist was playing what Mason could only assume to be free-form piano improvisations.

"Wow, he's really good." Mason pointed out the pianist to Lindsay.

"Yes, he is."

The waitress brought them their drinks: a water, and a mixed fruit shake. Mason stared at the drinks then at Lindsay.

"Don't say it."

Mason just laughed as he took his shake. He looked around the patio and saw a flatscreen TV showing interplanetary news. The TV was somewhat far away, and it took him a moment to identify what was on the screen.

When he saw it, his eyes widened. Lindsay saw his reaction and turned to look at the TV.

"Again, hundreds of people are believed to have been injured in a multiple explosion blast at this crowded downtown area. Authorities have yet to comment on the exact extent of the fatalities but the number of injured people is close to, or exceeding 100 people. While the goal of this horrific attack is still also being determined, it is believed to be an act of sedition by paramilitary forces. Based on the available evidence it appears the target was a recruiting center for…"

"What the hell…" Mason said quietly, exasperated.

Lindsay turned back to stare at him from across the table.

"You know it's funny–you'd think the war we've just gone through against the Covenant was the hardest war humanity has ever faced, but now we have to turn around and fight our own god damned people! It's…I don't even know. It's fucked up, that's for sure."

"As long as there are men, their will be wars." Lindsay responded.

Mason chuckled lightly. "Einstein, eh? I'm sure he would have added "and aliens" to that if he was living today."

She laughed slightly, and Mason went back to staring coldly at the TV.

"You're really ticked off about this–"

"What and you're not?" Mason quickly interrupted.

She shook her head, "It bothers me a lot, but I guess I just think of it differently."

"How can you think of this in any other way? This is honest-to-God civil war. People killing people!"

"I just think of them as rebels, no better than the Covenant."

Mason looked at Lindsay for a while, not moving. He suddenly leaned close to her and said, "Let me explain something to you, something I don't expect a person who never grew up on one of these worlds to know, my planet was one of these planets where there was a lot unrest. Most of the population was very poor, and it is not an exaggeration to say there was anti-government sentiment there.

My parents and particularly my dad always stood by earth and whatever legislation it passed, but they were the minority. When you work till your hands turn to leather every day for years for little pay, you start to wonder if maybe the system is cheating you. Day after day, after day that idea doesn't go away. So when someone comes up to you and says that it's time to put an end to it, and that you've got to do something, you believe that person.

Of course, I was one of those people. I was dead set on opposing earth and my parents almost kicked me out for it, but I didn't listen to them. That's when the Covenant attacked, and I saw that there were a lot of shittier ways to die than being ignored by the government and dying poor with old age. I turned all of my anger towards the Covenant, but few other people did.

I tried to persuade people to adopt my view, but by that time, they were well past the point of talking. Didn't matter what I said either. They didn't even care enough to join the UNSC and fight the Covenant. It was insane." Mason pointed at the TV. "These people, they're worse than the Covenant. A thousand times worse."

Mason sat back against his chair, finished. Lindsay looked down at the table, then back at him. "You're right, I don't know anything about what that's like. I've just been trained to always treat adversaries of humanity as enemies, and not to discern between them."

"Yeah but you've got to have feelings for what's going on though too right? Hell, if a soldier doesn't have his emotions to guide him on what's right and wrong and just follows orders…"

"Then they're just a thug…yes, you're correct. I guess I just don't know enough about the insurrection to have any idea what to think."

Mason held up his hand for her to stop. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you of being a…it's just I," He paused to sigh deeply, "well as you put it, this really bothers me is all."

She took his hands and gently squeezed them. He looked up at her. This was the second time she had done that, and exactly at the appropriate moment.

After a moment, he looked back up at her and smiled, "And you can't be a thug, thugs are so unattractive."

Lindsay looked back up at him, and it was his turn to take her hands in his, "And you're as far from unattractive as I've ever seen."

She slowly smiled at him. "I'm glad to see you can take some things seriously."

"I take you seriously. I take us seriously. And that reminds me…do you take us seriously?" he asked in a very stern and questioning tone.

"What kind of a question is–" She stopped as Mason started laughing. "You're kidding again…"

"You Spartans are so bad at telling when someone's kidding, it's hilarious!" He laughed.

The waitress came back and she took both of their orders.

"So, how long are you on leave for?" he asked.

"I'm not actually on leave." She replied.

"Oh? And is something going to happen on this planet? A few days ago when you ran into me you said you were 'so irritated,' is that related at all?" He asked inquisitively.

"You're very observant Mason." Lindsay commented.

"You can't fight an enemy as crafty as the Covenant for years and not be incredibly observant." He took a large gulp of his drink.

"Indeed you cannot." Lindsay took a sip of her water and then placed the glass back on the table. She looked up from the table to stare directly at him. "We think there might be a scattered Covenant force in this area planning to attack this resort."

He nearly choked on his shake and started coughing. "WHAT!?"

Lindsay laughed and smiled as she said, "I'm kidding, yes I am on leave."

Mason shook his head and smiled as he quickly thought of an intelligent response, "I thought it was weird for the Covenant to want to attack here. Huh, I guess you do know sarcasm after all…"

"I've been reassigned, and I'm just waiting for a notification telling me where to go."

"Reassigned, where to?"

"The _Infinity_."

Mason looked surprised. "Wow, that's high honors being reassigned to that ship."

The waitress returned with their food, and the two of them ate in mostly silence on account of them being hungry. While they ate, Mason sat worried. He felt genuine feelings for Lindsay, someone who he had never met until two days ago, but he nonetheless felt sadness at the thought of not being able to see her again. What could he do though?

When they finished eating and left the restaurant, Mason suddenly turned to Lindsay and looked at her a moment before he spoke, "I don't suppose there's any other openings on _Infinity_, is there?"

"Actually from what I've heard, the ship is without 90% of its intended crew size. You might be able to get on."

"Then I'll do it."

She stopped walking and turned to him. Before she could say anything, he started, "Look, I was told before I got here that I might have to go fight the insurrectionists, and as much as I want to fight them, I want to be with you more."

Lindsay stood listening intently. "I want to be with you too Mason."

The two leaned close to each other and kissed.

"You want to go on another run?" he asked.

She smiled back at him, "Sure."


End file.
